The Báb sent a letter to the Sháh requesting an audience. [B121; DB229; TN11]

Some accounts maintain that the prime minister intervened in the correspondence between the Báb and the Sháh. En route to Tabríz the Báb wrote to various people, including the Grand Vizier, the father and uncle of Táhirih, and Hájí Sulaymán Khán. Hujjat learned of this last letter and sent a message to the Bábís of Zanján to rescue the Báb. The Báb declined their assistance. [Bab124–5; DB235–6]

• See B126 for an account of the Báb's demonstration to His guards that He could have escaped had He so wished.

The Báb arrived in Tabríz en route to Máh-Kú and was handed over to the officials of Nasir al-Din Mirza, to be imprisoned for forty days in the citadel of Tabriz, called the Ark. [BBR76; Connections by Vincent Flannery] He was well received by the general populace. He spent His time in seclusion, being allowed only two visitors. [Bab127–8; DB237–40; GPB18; TN12]
• "A tumultuous concourse of people had gathered to witness His entry into the city … desirous of ascertaining the veracity of the wild reports that were current about Him … the acclamations of the multitude resounded on every side… Such was the clamour that a crier was ordered to warn the population of the danger that awaited those who ventured to seek His presence?" [DB237]

Mullá Husayn departed for Mázindarán, setting out on foot as the Báb has directed. [DB260; MH144]
• The Báb told him to visit the Bábís in Khuy, Urúmíyyih, Marághih, Mílán, Tabríz, Zanján, Qazvín and Tihrán before proceeding to Mázindarán. In Mázindarán he was to find `God's hidden treasure'. [DB260; MH144]
• In Tihrán he again met Bahá'u'lláh. [DB261; MH148]

The Conference of Badasht

Bahá'u'lláh, who hosted and directed the event, rented three gardens, one for Quddús, another for Táhirih and the third for Himself. [Bab168; GPB31, 68; MF200]

The conference coincided with the removal of the Báb to Tabríz for interrogation in July. It was held near the village of Sháhrúd in Semnan province. [BBRSM23; DB292]

• `The primary purpose of that gathering was to implement the revelation of the Bayán by a sudden, a complete and dramatic break with the past — with its order, its ecclesiasticism, its traditions, and ceremonials. The subsidiary purpose of the conference was to consider the means of emancipating the Báb from His cruel confinement in Chihríq.' [BBRSM23; BKG43; DB297–8; GPB31, 157]
• From the beginning of His ministry the Báb had implicitly claimed some higher spiritual station than merely that of being the "bábu'l-imám" and in the early months of 1848 while still in prison in Máh-Kú He put forward these claims to his companions. He proclaimed HImself to be the Imam Mahdi, the promised Q´'im (He who will arise), the inaugurator of the Resurrection and the abrogator of the Islamic holy law. [BBRSM23]
• Bab167 says that the Bábís did not come to Badasht to make plans to rescue the Báb.
• It was attended by 81 believers and lasted 22 days. [BKG43–4, 46; DB292–3; GPB312]
• Each day Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet, and on each believer He conferred a new name. Each day an Islamic law was abrogated. Henceforth, when the Báb was addressing the believers, He used the new name that Bahá'u'lláh had bestowed upon them. [DB293; GPB32]
• See BKG44–5; DB293 and MF201 for the story of the central event, Táhirih's confrontation with Quddús and removal of her veil.
  Ṭáhirih, seizing upon the opportunity, arose and, unveiled, came forth from the garden. She proceeded towards the tent of Bahá'u'lláh crying out and proclaiming: "I am the Trumpet-blast; I am the Bugle-call!"—which are two of the signs of the Day of Resurrection mentioned in the Qur'án. Calling out in this fashion, she entered the tent of Bahá'u'lláh. No sooner had she entered than Bahá'u'lláh instructed the believers to recite the Súrih of the Event from the Qur'án, a Súrih that describes the upheaval of the Day of Resurrection.
  [Twelve Table Talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká, no. 9, "Ṭáhirih and the Conference of Badasht"]
• Also see Bab167–9; BBD31–2; BBRSM46; BKG43–7; DB292–8; RB2:353.
• See The World-Wide Influence of Qurratul-'Ayn by Standwood Cobb.

After three months in Chihríq, the Báb, on the order of Háji Mírzá Áqási was taken under escort to Tabríz. He was to be tried for apostasy before a gathering of high-ranking religious leaders (Mujtahid) in the presence of the young crown prince Másiri'd-Dín Mírzá . [Bab137; BW18:380; TN14]
• Just prior to His leaving, in June of 1848 He was seen in public discourse with His followers by a Russian student named Mochenin from St. Petersburg University. It is believed that he and Dr William Cormick were the only Westerners to have seen the Báb. [BBR75]
• En route He stopped in Urúmíyyih for ten days where the governor, Malik-Qásim Mírzá, tested the Báb by offering Him an unruly horse to ride to the public bath. The horse remained docile under the Bab's control and was the same when He came out and rode him on the return. The local people were certain that they had witnessed a miracle and broke into the bath to procure His bath water. [Bab138; BBR74; DB309–11, EB86-87; For73]
• A sketch of the Báb was made by local artist Aqa Bala Bayg from which he made a full-scale black and white portrait. Later Bahá'u'lláh directed that Aqa Bala Bayg make two copies of the portrait in water colour. The sketch and one of the water colours are now in the International Archives. [For73; EB87; Bab138–9, Juhúrú'l-Haqq by Asadu'lláh Fádil-i-Mázindarání p.48 quoted in World Order Winter 1974-95 p41]
• See "The Báb in the World of Images" by Bijan Masumian and Adib Masumian. [Bahá'í Studies Review, Volume 19, Number 1, 1 June 2013, pp. 171-190(20)]

Trial of the Báb

The Báb arrived in Tabríz and was brought before a panel of which the 17-year-old Crown Prince Násiri'd-Dín Mírzá was the president. The Báb publicly made His claim that He was the Qá'im. This claim had also been announced to those gathered at Badasht. [Bab140–7; BBR157; BBRSM23, 216; BW18:380; DB314–20; GPB21–2; TN14]
• The purpose of the public forum was to force the Báb to recant His views; instead He took control of the hearing and embarrassed the clergy. After considerable argument and discussion, they decided He was devoid of reason. [GPB22; BBRSM216]
• The Báb was bastinadoed. [B145; BBD44; DB320; GPB22; TN14–15] This is the first formal punishment He received. [BBRSM20]
• This constituted the formal declaration of His mission. [GPB22]
• The clergy issued a fatwa or legal pronouncement against the Báb condemning Him to death for heresy, but to no purpose as the civil authorities were unwilling to take action against Him. [BBRSM19–20]
• See Trial of the Báb: Shi'ite Orthodoxy Confronts its Mirror Image by Denis MacEoin.
• He was first attended by an Irish physician, Dr William Cormick, to ascertain His sanity and later to treat Him for a blow to the face that occurred during the bastinado. Cormick is the only Westerner to have met and conversed with Him. [Bab145; BBR74–5, 497–8 DBXXXIL–XXXIII; Bahá'í Council website]
• For an account of the life of Dr. William Cormick see Connections by Brendan McNamara.
• See the YouTube video The Irish Physician Who Met The Báb.

The accession of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh at Tabríz. [BBR482]
• He was 17 years old. [BBR158; GPB37]
• He ruled from 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated on the eve of his jubilee. [BBD168; BBR482]
• The first four years of his reign were marked by the `fiercest and bloodiest of the persecutions of the religion of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh'. During the whole of his reign there were `sporadic persecutions and, in at least some cases, he himself was directly responsible for the death of the martyrs'. [BBR157]
• For the first time in the Faith's history the civil and ecclesiastical powers banded together in a systematic campaign against it, one that was to `culminate in the horrors experienced by Bahá'u'lláh in the Síyáh-Chál' and `His subsequent banishment to Iraq'. [GPB37]
• See BBRSM25 for an explanation of why the Bábí religion was a challenge to the secular regime.
• See SB86 for a reason for Násiri'd-Dín Sháh's cruelty towards the Bábís and Bahá'ís.
• See RB3:201 for an explanation of his lengthy reign.
• He chose as his prime minister Mírzá Taqí Khán-i-Faráhání, known as a great reformer and a founder of modern Iran. [BBD221; BBR160]
• It was not until the spring of 1849 that the new regime was in firm control.
• His reform antagonized many and a coalition was formed against him. One of the most active proponents was the queen mother. She convinced the Shah that the prime minister wanted his throne. In October of 1851 the Shah dismissed him and exiled him to Kashan where he was murdered on the Shah's orders.

The Amír-Nizám, Mírzá Taqí Khán was determined to execute the Báb to halt the progress of His religion. On his orders the Báb was taken from Chihríq to Tabríz. [Bab152; BBR76–7; GPB51]
• His guard took Him on a circuitous, much longer route through Urúmíyyih where His presence was noted by American missionaries. [Bab152; BBR73, 76]
• Forty days before the Báb was to leave Chihríq He collected all His documents, Tablets, pen cases, seals, His agate rings, and His last Tablets to Mírzá 'Abdu'l-Karím Qazvíní, and put them in a coffer. He entrusted it to Mullá Báqir, one of the Letters of the Living, and instructed him to deliver it to His secretary. In the event that something should happen to Himself, the secretary was to proceed to Tihrán to deliver the box to 'Jináb-i-Bahá', that is, Bahá'u'lláh. In His last Tablets, Mírzá Husayn-'Alí Núrí was referred to again and again as "Him Whom God shall make Manifest" also, He was referred to as "Bahá'u'lláh". [CH49; Bab151–2; DB504–5; TN25–6]
• When the box was opened they found a Tablet in the form of a pentacle with 500 verses consisting of derivatives of the word 'Bahá'. [Bab151–2; DB504–5; TN25–6]
• This Blessed Tablet of the Bab was obtained in Cyprus by the Larnaca District Commissioner Claude Delaval Cobham, and he donated it to the British Library. It had been in the possession of Mirza Yayha in Famagusta. Mishkin-Qalam served Cobham toward the end of his 18 year exile in Cyprus, as a translator, which has nothing to do with this Tablet but it is interesting Baha'i history in Cyprus. [from an message from Anita Graves, National Bahá'í Archivist, Cyprus to Janis Zrudlo 25 April 2021.
  • Here is a link to a similar tablet at the British Libary website.
  • See Gate of the Heart 329-330 for a further explanation of the symbol of the pentagram and the circle.

Vahíd was martyred in Nayríz. [Bab182; BW18:381; DB495, 499; GPB42; RB1:265]
• See DB494 for details of his martyrdom.
• His body was dragged through the streets to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. [RB1:265; For24]
• See SDH13 for a respectful opinion of Vahíd expressed by an enemy of the Cause, one of the army chiefs who had fought against Vahíd.
• See PG109-110 for the story of Jenabeh Vahid's show of reverence towards the Báb.

The Báb arrived in Tabríz. [BBR76]
• BBRXXIX says He arrived on 19 June.
• RR397 says He arrived two days after the government troops succeeded in suppressing the first Nayríz uprising.

The Báb, divested of His turban and sash, was taken on foot to the barracks in Tabríz. Mírzá Muhammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, Anís, threw himself at the feet of the Báb and asked to go with Him. [Bab153; DB507]
• That night the Báb asked that one of His companions kill Him, rather than let Him die at the hands of His enemies. Anís offered to do this but was restrained by the others. The Báb promised that Anís will be martyred with Him. [Bab154–5; DB507–8]

Martyrdom of the Báb

In the morning the Báb was taken to the homes of the leading clerics to obtain the death-warrants. [Bab155; DB508]

• The warrants were already prepared. [Bab155–6; DB510]
• Anís's stepfather tried to persuade him to change his mind. Anís's young son was also brought to 'soften his heart' but Anís's resolve remained unshaken. [Bab156–7; DB509–10]
  See The Story of Anis Zunuzi, a film by Houri Skuce.
• At noon the Báb and Mirza Muhammad-Ali Zunuzi, known as Anis were suspended on a wall in the square in front of the citadel of Tabríz in Sarbazkhaneh Square. They were shot by 750 soldiers in three ranks of 250 men in succession. [Bab157; DB512]
• When the smoke cleared the Báb was gone and Anís was standing, unharmed, under the nail from which they were suspended. The Báb, also unhurt, was found back in his cell completing His dictation to His secretary. [Bab157–8; DB512–13]
• See BBD200–1 and DB510–12, 514 for the story of Sám Khán, the Christian colonel of the Armenian regiment which was ordered to execute the Báb.
• The Báb and Anís were suspended a second time. A new regiment, the Násirí, was found to undertake the execution. After the volleys, the bodies of the Báb and Anís were shattered and melded together. [Bab158; DB514]
• See BBR77–82 for Western accounts of the event.
• The face of the Báb was untouched. [Bab158]
• At the moment the shots were fired, a gale sweeps the city, stirring up so much dust that the city remained in darkness from noon until night. [Bab158; DB515]
• See CH239 and DH197 for the story of the phenomenon of the two sunsets.
• During the night, the bodies were thrown onto the edge of the moat surrounding the city. Four companies of soldiers, each consisting of ten sentinels, were ordered to keep watch in turn over them. Nearby; two Bábís, feigning madness, keep vigil. After paying bribes to the guards, tIhe bodies were removed and hidden under cover of darkness. [Bab159; TN27; LWS147; DB518]
• See David Merrick's Outline for Researchers.
• See Sen McGlinn's blog 750 Muskets.
• See It was in the news.... In this blog SMK points out the parallel between the history of early Christianity and that of the Bábí-Bahá'í Faith.
• There is a possibility that the Martyrdom took place on the 8th of July. See BBR78.
• See Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia Chapter 11 by Lady Mary Sheil published in 1856. It contains sketchy details of the circumstances and martyrdom of the Báb and the insurrection at Zanjan. [Collins 10.1327-10.1328]

The Russian Consul had an artist make a sketch of the body of the Báb. [Bab159; DB518; TN28; Sunburst P128-129]
• See BBR43 for details of the drawing made by Consul Bakulin.
• See as well Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab: Four historical accounts by Ahang Rabbani. The four accounts were from: Hand of the Cause of God Mirza Hasan Adib Taliqani, Hand of the Cause of God Mirza Asadu’llah Fadil Mazandarani, ‘Abdu’l-Husayn Avarih, and Aqa Husayn ‘Ali Nur.

During the evening the bodies were wrapped in a cloak and removed to a silk factory owned by one of the believers, Haji Ahmad Milani, where the remains were concealed under a bale of silk. The next day they Haji Sulayman Khan and Husain-i-Mílání built a casket and placed it in the wall cavity, covering it with mortar. Before closing it the casket Sulayman Khan placed a bouquet of flowers commonly found in the homes of Tabrizis next to the sanctified countenance of the Bab. [B159–60; DB519]
• Sulayman Khan sent a messenger to Tehran to advise Bahá'u'lláh that the remains had been secured and He had a messenger sent back telling them to deliver the remains to Tehran. They travelled by night along the rocky pathway through the hills and mountains out of fear for both robbers and the authorities and probably arrived about a week later. [JtaM3]
• See B159–60, DB518–22 and TN27–8, The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1952 Information Statistical & Comparative p20-22 for the story of the recovery of the bodies and eventual arrival in Haifa.
• The soldiers reported that the bodies had been eaten by dogs. [B160; DB519]
  • Shi'is believe that dogs would not eat the flesh of 'holy imams' as their bodies are not composed of the same substance as that of ordinary people. [TN27-28]
• See as well Efforts to preserve the remains of the Bab: Four historical accounts by Ahang Rabbani

Three Bahá'ís were executed in Tabríz. Their arrest was precipitated by conflict and rivalry between the Azalís and the Bahá'ís. [BBR252–3; BKG237–8; BW18:382–3; RB2:61]
• BW18:382 says this was 8 January.

In 1862 he had been appointed physician to the diplomatic delegation sent to Persia to establish relations between the newly created Kingdom of Italy and the Persian government. There in Tabriz, Lessona met Daud Khan, who told him about the new Revelation. He met often with Gobineau, who had then become the French Ambassador to Persia and the two became lifelong friends. Most of Lessona's information on the Bábi Faith came from these two sources, especially the latter. He found it difficult to get any first-hand information about the Babis, but did recognize, in 1962, that the successor to the Báb was living in Baghdad.

Lessona organized two-part conference on the Bábi movement that was held in December of 1880. The following year he published the proceedings of the conference in a small monograph called I Bábi. It was the first Italian historical testimony on the Bábí - Bahá'í Faith. [Bahá'í Tributes; Bahá'í Teachings; BW12p900]

Fifteen Bahá'ís were arrested in Saysán, Ádharbáyján. They were taken to Tabríz, imprisoned and fined. [BW18:384]
• Three Bahá'ís were arrested in Nayríz on the orders of Áqá Najafí, the `Son of the Wolf'. [BW18:384]
• The homes of several Bahá'ís in Hamadán were looted and ransacked after complaints by Jews of the town against Bahá'ís of Jewish background. [BW18:384]

In a gathering in Akka, 'Abdu'l-Bahá informed the friends of the threats of Siyyid Jamalud-Din-i-Afghani, a sometimes collaborator with Sultán 'Abdu'l-Maníd and an inveterate enemy of the Faith. He had vision of a pan-Islamic Ottoman state with the Sultan as the head of all Muslims. A short time after `Abdu'l-Bahá had spoken about him, a small growth appeared on the Siyyid's tongue. The Sultan's special physician was sent to attend him. In a number of operations, his tongue was cut several times until none was left and, soon after, he died. This was the end of a person whose tongue had spoken presumptuously towards the Cause of God and had committed such slander and calumny against the Faith. He has been called the "Protagonist of Pan-Islamism".
• MBBA158 says his death occurred in 1901 or a short time after. In fact he died in March 1897. Two Azalis who had been associated with him, Shaykh Ahmad and Mírzá Áqá Khan, were caught up in his intrigues to rid Persia of its monarchy and were executed in Tabriz on the 15th of July, 1896 by the then Crown Prince Muhammad-'Alí Mirzá. [EGB23-28]

The fourth Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh was Jináb-i-Valíyu'lláh Varqá, the third son of Varqá the martyr. He was born in Tabriz and after the death of his father and brother he was raised by his grandmother, a fanatical Muslim. At the age of 16 his uncle removed him from the home and taught him the Faith. He attended the American University at Beirut and spent summers with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and accompanied the Master to America and served as His interpreter. He returned to Iran where he served on local and national assemblies and was made a Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh in 1938 at a time when the observance of the law spread throughout Iran. [Message from the Universal House of Justice dated 25 March, 1985]
• He was elevated to a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951 and passed away in Tubingen, Germany in 1955 while taking a treatment for an illness. [BW13p831-834]

Revolutionary committees in Shahsavár, 'Ábádán and Tabríz, Iran, ordered the arrest of Bahá'ís. [BW18:255]
• Among those arrested were members of local spiritual assemblies. [BW18:255]
• Bahá'í homes in Tabríz were raided and literature seized. [BW18:255]

Eight Bahá'ís were arrested in Tabríz; five were released after signing an agreement not to take part in Bahá'í administrative activities. [BW18:256]
• Two of the others, members of the local assembly, were put on trial and executed on 14 July 1982. [BW18:256]

Raised in Babol he had studied medicine in Tehran, completed his military service then left for England to study English and then Canada. After completing his studies in which he trained as an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist), he returned to Iran. His Canadian fiancee, Anita, followed and they were married in 1971. She and their three children, all under the age of seven, left Iran after the Revolution on the advice of the Canadian Embassy.

He was 48 years old at the time of his execution and was considered one of the top microscopic ear surgeons in the world. He was an innovator who devised a new method of ear surgery for the treatment of deafness. The method, now used in a modernized form around the world, allows a surgeon to implant a small hearing aid behind the ear of a hearing impaired person in a way that cannot been seen. [Iran Wire]

See the story of the martyrdom of pharmacist Dr. Parviz Firouzi,.
• See the story of the martyrdom of medical doctor Dr Masroor Dakhili.

Raised in Babol he had studied medicine in Tehran, completed his military service then left for England to study English and then Canada. After completing his studies in which he trained as an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist), he returned to Iran. His Canadian fiancee, Anita, followed and they were married in 1971. She and their three children, all under the age of seven, left Iran after the Revolution on the advice of the Canadian Embassy.

He was 48 years old at the time of his execution and was considered one of the top microscopic ear surgeons in the world. He was an innovator who devised a new method of ear surgery for the treatment of deafness. The method, now used in a modernized form around the world, allows a surgeon to implant a small hearing aid behind the ear of a hearing impaired person in a way that cannot been seen. [Iran Wire]